Fife man proposes coloured wristband scheme which ‘could act as vaccine passport’

Brian Henderson has worked creating complex computer systems for decades, but the IT guru has come up with a simple and cost effective solution which he thinks could help people decide how safe they are around others and get life back on track - a colour coded wristband.

Each colour of wristband would correlate to a different meaning like a traffic light system, where red would mean ‘isolating, beware’, amber indicates ‘not had covid’ and green meaning that the wearer has covid antibodies and could have immunity.

Mr Henderson said: “Just over a year ago three days before lockdown I lost my mother, she couldn’t talk and was in ICU, and in the ward wristbands are given to people who can’t communicate to let staff know - that’s when I saw the power of the wristband.

“In May 2020 I came up with the wristband scheme, it’s a guardian angel on your wrist and lets people around you know if you are isolating, haven’t had Covid or if you have had it. It’s so simple.”

He has even created an app, called Wubands which is available on Apple and Android phones in which users who don’t wear wristbands can select the colour options which apply to them.

The idea behind Wubands is that users would be able to show them in shops, restaurants, other venues or to other people to let them know how much of a risk they carry.

He added that the coloured wristband scheme is something accessible to everyone, as silicone wristbands can be purchased for as little as 1p online and the more people who got on board with the idea, the more effective it would be.

“Covid is colourblind, people are not,” Mr Henderson said, “And it’s optional, not enforced and it doesn’t track you, I’m not interested in tracking people unnecessarily, but the more people who wear a band the more effective it becomes. It’s a positive choice.”

Last year, Mr Henderson proposed the idea to his local MP in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Neale Hanvey who put forward the idea to the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.